Chronograph watch

ABSTRACT

A chronograph watch including a control cam and a return-to-zero hammer operated by said cam. The axis of rotation of the cam intersects the axis of the setting stem of the watch.

United States Patent [191 Capt et al.

[ June 24, 1975 CHRONOGRAPH WATCH [75] Inventors: Edmond Capt; Gerald Gander, both of Le Sentier-Canton of Vaud,

Switzerland [73] Assignee: Valjoux S.A., Les Bioux,

Switzerland [22] Filed: Apr. 4, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 457,987

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 6, 1973 Switzerland 5000/73 [51] Int. Cl. G04f 7/04 [58] Field of Search 58/74, 75, 76, 78, 79

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,045,4l8 7/1962 l-lever 58/74 3,457,720 7/1969 Bachmann 58/76 3,832,844 9/1974 Matsumura et al 58/74 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 208,214 l/l940 Switzerland 58/76 Primary E.\'aminerGeorge H. Miller, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Silverman & Cass, Ltd.

[57] ABSTRACT A chronograph watch including a control cam and a return-to-zero hammer operated by said cam. The axis of rotation of the cam intersects the axis of the setting stem of the watch.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures mmwm m5 890.779

' SHEET 1 FIG. 1

SHEET PATENTEDJUN 24 1915 24 I975 SHEET 4 3 8 9 O 7 T 9 FIG. 5

FIG. 6

1 CHRONOGRAPH WATCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a chronograph watch, the chronograph mechanism of which comprises a cam conrolled by a control lever for controlling running and stopping of the chronograph, and a return to zero control lever, the said cam operating the different functions of the chronograph.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The watch of the invention is characterized by the fact that the axis of rotation of the said cam intersects the axis of the setting stem of the watch, with two control levers of the watch being arranged substantially symmetrically with respect to the axis of the said cam, i.e., with respect to the axis of the setting stem; the return to zero hammers of the watch comprises at least a lever independent from the said cam, articulated on the frame of the watch, and which is operated by the said cam.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawing shows, by way of example, one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a chronograph watch, viewed from the side of the bridges thereof, in which only the elements necessary for understanding of the invention (substantially all of the elements of the chronograph mechanism) have been represented.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial views of the chronograph mechanism represented in two other working positions.

FIGS. 4a and 4b constitute, together, a broken sectional view taken along line IVIV of FIG. 1 in the direction indicated generally on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a detail of the chronograph mechanism viewed from the side of the base-plate, and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the detail of FIG. 5, on a smaller scale, in a different operating position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The watch represented comprises a chronograph wheel 1 with which is meshed, when the chronograph is operating, with a pinion 2 rigidly connected to a pinion 3 which is meshed itself with the wheel 4 of the seconds gearing of the movement. The axis 2a of the pinion 2 is mounted for oscillating movement so as to permit pinion 2 to disengage from the chronograph wheel 1; to this effect, the upper pivot-shank of pinion 2 is supported by a clutch lever 5 the action of which is controlled by a return spring 5a, and the displacements of which, which result from starting and stopping of the chronograph, are produced by means which are disclosed hereafter.

A shaft 6 of the chronograph carries the wheel 1 and a return to zero heart 7. A portion 8a of a member 8 cooperates with the heart 7. Member 8 is of generally swingle-bar shape and is articulated at 9 on a lever 10 which functions as a return to zero hammer. The shaft 6 also carries a finger 11 which operates, once per revolution, an intermediary wheel 12 pivotally mounted on a journal 13 carried by a bridge 14 of the frame of the movement, i.e., the gearing bridge and the barrel bridge. The intermediary wheel 12 is meshed with a wheel 15 of a counter of minutes, the axis l6 of which carries a heart 17 of return to zero with which cooperates a portion 8b of the member 8.

The watch represented comprises moreover a counter of the hours situated on the face of the baseplate 18 of the movement, opposite the dial which has not been represented. The shaft 19 of the hours counter is frictionally driven, by means of a cambered resilientwasher 20, by a wheel 21 meshed with a pinion 22 carried by the barrel 23 (FIG. 4a). The shaft 19 of the counter of the hours carries a heart 24 of return to zero as well as a disc 25 for braking the heart 24. The manner in which heart 24 and disc 25 operate is disclosed hereafter.

The control mechanism for the different operations of the chronograph comprises two control levers, one of which, designated by 26, operates to effect starting and stopping of.the chronograph. Lever 26 is articulated at 27 on the frame and carries, articulated at 28 thereon, an oscillating lever 29 called the reverse lever lever 29 is provided with two beaks 29a and 29b,

the purpose of which will be described hereafter; a spring 30, carried by the control lever 26, maintains, at rest, the reverse lever 29 in the position represented in FIG. 1. i

The other control lever, designated by 31, is articulated at 32 on the frame and operates to effect the return to zero operation. The two control levers 26 and 31, respectively, on which act buttons which have not been represented, and which are carried by the casing of the watch, are situated on both sides of the axis of the winding and setting stem 33 visible in FIG. 4a. The said axis is itself designated by 33 in FIG. 1. The two bearing surfaces 34 and 35 of the two control levers 26 and 31 are symmetric with respect to the stem 33.

The control mechanism of the chronograph comprises a cam including of three superposed elements 36, 37 and 38 rigidly connected one with each other by weldment, for example The said cam has thus three levels and therefore can operateelements positioned at different levels. The cam is rotatably mounted on a collar 39a of the hub 39 of the crown wheel 40. Wheel 40 meshes with the winding pinion 41 carried by the stem 33. The three-element cam 36-37-38 is held in place on the collar 39a and a screw 42 (FIGS. 1 and 4a). The axis of the collar 39a, and consequently the axis of rotation of the three-element cam, intersects the axis of the winding and setting stem 33.

The action of the lower element 38 of the threeelement cam is controlled on the one hand by the reverse lever 29 and on the other hand by the control lever 31; such control permits rotative movements, in one sense or in the other, of the cam; the action of the element 38 is also controlled by a jumper-spring 43 which cooperates with one or the other of three slots 44, 45 and 46 of the element 38, according to the position of the cam.

The element 38 operates a lever 47, the head 47a of which is engaged in a slot 48 of element 38 and is articulated at 49 on the frame. The purpose of said lever 47 will be discussed hereafter. The lower element 38 of the cam also operates a brake 50, articulated at 51 on the frame, by means on a slot 52 of the element 38. Slot 52 acts on a nose 50a of the brake. The brake 50 is intended to cooperate, by means of its shoe 50b, with the wheel 1 of the chronograph.

The intermediary element 37 of the three-element cam operates the clutch lever 5 by means ofa nose 37a acting on an arm 5b of the lever 5.

Finally, the upper element 36 of the cam operates the hammer .10 of return to zero. Hammer is articulated at 53 on the frame, and is provided with a nose 10a with which cooperates a portion 360 of the element 36.

The mechanism of the chronograph operates as follows:

When the different elements of the chronograph occupy the position represented in FIG. 1, that is to say the intermediary position of the cam, in which the jumper 43 is engaged into the intermediary slot 45, the chronograph is stopped and its hands occupy a position in which they were at the moment of the stopping. The oscillating clutch pinion 2 is then disengaged from the wheel 1 of the chronograph while the brake 50 bears thereon. The elements 8a and 8b of the member -8 carried by the return to zero hammer 10 are maintained at a distance from the return to zero hearts 7 and 17.

If, from this position, a force or pressure is exerted on the surface 35 of the control lever 31, as indicated by the arrow 54in FIG. 2, an arm 31a of this control lever, bearing on the element 38 of the three-elements cam, operates this cam in the counter-clockwise direction, bringing it in the return to zero position in which the jumper 43 is engaged into the slot 44 of the element 38 (FIG. 2). In this position of the cam, the brake 50 is lifted, releasing the wheel of chronograph 1, and the hammer 10 is released, to permit it to occupy, under the effect of a return spring 55, the position represented in FIG. 2 in which the parts 8a and 8b of the member 8 bear on the two return to zero hearts 7 and 17, respectively, of the counter of chronograph and of the counter of minutes. In this position of the cam, the oscillating pinion 2 of the clutch of the chronograph remains disengaged from the wheel of chronograph 1.

In this position of the mechanism, the nose 29a of the reverse lever 29 is situated opposite a bearing surface 56 of the element 38 of the cam. Consequently, if a force or pressure is exerted, as indicated by the arrow 57 in FIG. 3, on the bearing surface 34 of the control lever 26, the nose 29a of the reverse lever 29 acts on the bearing surface 56 of the element 38 of the cam for rotating the cam in the clockwise direction and bringing it into the position represented in FIG. 3, in which the jumper 43 is engaged in the slot 46 of the element 38 of the cam. It is to be noted that, in the course of reaching this position, the cam has passed over its interme'diary position (shown in FIG. 1) without stopping therein.

The last named position of the cam (FIG. 3) corresponds to the running of the chronograph: In this position, the oscillating pinion 2 is engaged in the toothing of the wheel of chronograph 1 and the brake 50b is separated from this wheel. The hammer 10 is lifted by the element 36 of the cam.

It is to be noted that, if a force or pressure is exerted on the return-to-zero control lever 31 while the chronograph is running, the arm 31a of said control lever passes in front of the element 38 of the cam but does not reach it. Pressing on the lever 31 while the chronograph is running, therefore, does not interfere with the driving mechanism as is the case of several prior art chronograph mechanisms. In some prior art devices, operation of the return-to-zero lever while the chronograph is running may result in damage to the chronograph.

It is also to be noted that, since the hammer 10 is not rigidly connected to the three element cam, but is controlled independent therefrom, the hammer does not effect a return movement when the mechanism occupies one or the other of its extreme positions, as would be the case if the hammer were rigidly connected to the cam. Consequently, the hammer never occupies a position proximate to the periphery of the movement and thus permits free passage of the rim of the oscillating mass of the automatic winder, diagrammatically represented by the numeral 58 in FIG. 4a.

In the last named position of the mechanism (FIG. 3), the reverse lever 29 occupies, when the pressure at 57 is released, the position represented in dot-and-dash lines in which its beak 29b is situated opposite a bearing surface 59 of the element 38 of the three-element cam.

Consequently, if a new force or pressure is exerted on the bearing surface 34 of the control lever 26, the three-element cam is driven by the reverse lever 29 in the counter-clockwise direction. This results from the action of the nose 29b of reverse lever 29 on the bearing surface 59, until a nose 38a of the element 38, adjacent to the bearing surface 56 of this element, abuts against the nose 29a of the reverse lever. The last named action stops the displacement of the cam which is then stopped in its intermediary position, of stopping of the chronograph, as represented in FIG. 1.

The frictionally driven hours counter, positioned between the baseplate 18 and the dial, is controlled by a lever 60, constituting its return to zero hammer. The peen 60a of the lever 60 cooperates with the heart 24. The lever 60 is articulated at 61 on a circular member 62 rigidly connected to the shaft 49, constituted by a stem passing through the movement along its entire height, of the lever 47 disclosed previously (FIGS. 1 to 3). The lever 47 is by the element 38 of the threeelement cam. The hammer-lever 60 operates a lever 63, articulated at 64 on the base-plate. Lever 63 is provided with a shoe 63a cooperating with the disc 25 carried by the shaft 19 of the counter of hours. The shoe 63a is operable to stop the disc 25.

When the mechanism occupies the position represented in full lines in FIG. 5, corresponding to the position of stopping of the chronograph represented in FIG. 1, the shoe 63a bears against the disc 25 and locks the disc by reason of the friction produced by the spring cambered washer 20.

When the mechanism is brought into the running position (FIG. 3), the control elements of the counter of hours occupy the position represented in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 5, into which position they are brought by the rotation of the member 62 which causes displacement of the axis of articulation 61 of the lever 60, the rotation of the member 62 being itself produced by the lever '47.

In this position of the mechanism, the brake 63a is separated from the disc 25 so as to permit the counter of the hours to rotate.

When at last the mechanism occupies the position of return to zero corresponding to that of FIG. 2, the control mechanism of the counter of the hours occupies the position represented in FIG. 6.

In this latter position of the control mechanism of the counter of the hours, the hammer-lever 60 is controlled by a return to zero lever 65 articulated at 66 on the base-plate and which is provided with a nose 65a cooperating with a nose 60b of the lever 60. The return to zero lever 65 is coupled with the control lever 31 through a portion 31b thereof, bent at right angle to the lever 65. Thus, when the return to zero of the counters of the chronograph and of minutes is effected, the lever 65 acts on the hammer-lever 60 to bring the peen 60a of hammer-lever 60 into cooperation with the heart 24 of return to zero of the counter of the hours.

If the force or pressure exerted at 54 (FIGS. 1 and 6) on the control lever 31 is released. the hammers 8a and 8b continue to bear on the hearts 7 and 17 of the counters of chronograph and of minutes, respectively, while the hammer 60a is separated from the heart 24 of the counter of the hours, under the action of a returnspring 67. The counter of the hours is, however, stopped by the brake 63a which returns to make contact with the disc 25, as shown in FIG. 6 where this position is represented in dot-and-dash lines.

It is to be noted that these different operations are rendered possible by the position then occupied by the pivot 61 of the lever 60. The position occupied by lever 60 is due itself to the position occupied by the member 62. If, however, the return to zero lever 65 is operated when the mechanism occupies its running position, represented in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 5, the nose 65a of the lever 65 will pass in front of the nose 60b of the lever 60 without driving it.

What we claim is:

l. A chronograph watch including a frame, a setting stem, return-to-zero hammers and a chronograph mechanism having a cam rotatable about an axis, a first control lever for controlling running and stopping of the chronograph and a second return-to-zero control lever, said cam being controlled by said control levers, said watch comprising, the axis of rotation of the cam intersecting the axis of the stem, said control levers different planes. 

1. A chronograph watch including a frame, a setting stem, return-to-zero hammers and a chronograph mechanism having a cam rotatable About an axis, a first control lever for controlling running and stopping of the chronograph and a second return-tozero control lever, said cam being controlled by said control levers, said watch comprising, the axis of rotation of the cam intersecting the axis of the stem, said control levers being arranged substantially symmetrically with respect to the axis of said cam and the stem, the return-to-zero hammers including at least a lever independent from said cam, said last named lever being articulated on the frame and being operated by said cam.
 2. A watch as claimed in claim 1 in which said cam has a plurality of peripheral working zones, each zone being located in a different plane, and said cam operates to control chronograph elements also positioned in different planes. 